Easy Peasy Chicken & Mushroom Pie
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 x tin of Campbells condensed mushroom soup
Four chicken breasts
1 punnet of mushrooms (you can use any type which ever your family like best)
1 x packet of ready made puff pastry
1 x clove of garlic
Parsley

Method
1. Pre heat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
2. Peel and crush your garlic clove, chop two table spoons full of fresh parsley
3. Cut the chicken breasts into strips
4. Put a table spoon of olive oil in a saucepan and gently fry the garlic and parsley until it starts to colour, add the chicken breast and fry for 5 minutes.
5. While the chicken is frying, clean and chop your mushrooms. If you are using button mushrooms you could either leave them whole or slice them in half
6. Add the mushrooms to the chicken
7. Add the soup to the chicken, fill a third of the empty can with milk and also add that to the chicken and mushroom filling. Once the pie filling has come to the boil take off heat.
8. Roll out your pastry using plain flour.
9. Put pie filling in pie dish and cover with pastry. Make holes in pastry using a fork. 10. Brush pastry with either milk or an egg.
11. Place in oven and cook until pastry is nicely browned, about 20-30 minutes.
12. Serve with new potatoes and peas.

The Quickest Pasta in Town

Ingredients
400g penne (or other tube shape) pasta
250g pack chestnut or button mushrooms, wiped clean
2 x cloves garlic
8 rashers streaky bacon cut into bite size pieces
1 x egg
100g hard cheese grated

Method
1. Boil pasta according to packet instructions
2. Fry crushed garlic, bacon and mushrooms until golden
3. Drain pasta and return to pan
4. Add bacon mixture to pasta
5. Crack egg into pasta and mix well
6. Add grated cheese to pasta and mix well
7. Serve immediately

Banana Bread (Great for using up over-ripe bananas that nobody wants to eat!)

Ingredients
100g butter
250g brown sugar
1 egg
3 ripe bananas
350g self-raising flour
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
100ml milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
2. Peel bananas and mash them using a fork
3. Beat butter and sugar together add egg and beat for approx 1 minute
4. Add mashed bananas to butter mixture and mix well together
5. Fold in flour, cinnamon and nutmeg
6. Add milk and vanilla essence and stir well together
7. Rub butter into a 900g loaf tin
8. Spoon banana mixture into loaf tin and bake in oven for 1 hour

Plum Crumble

Ingredients
2 punnets of plums
4-5 tbsp of brown sugar
75g butter chilled and cubed
175g plain flour
A pinch of salt
50g caster sugar

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
2. Cut plums in half take out stone and place in bowl. If the plums are large quarter them
3. Toss the plums in the brown sugar and place them in a medium oven proof dish
4. Using your finger tips rub the butter into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs
5. Stir in the sugar
6. Lightly scatter the crumble over your plums and bake in oven for 40-45 minutes

Poached Plums

Ingredients
2 x punnets of plums
200g honey
Cinnamon stick

Method
1. Cut plums in half and take out the stones
2. Put them into a pan with all other ingredients and bring to the boil
3. Simmer gently until soft
4. Serve with custard